RM bags more than £21m at its London sale

RM Auctions enjoyed its first two-day sale London’s Battersea Park, selling 120 cars for a total of £21,710,220 for a 90% success rate. The well-established RM London is now established as a highlight of the annual auction calendar, helping to re-establish the UK as a vitally important auction mcar market.

The top selling lot was the 1957 Maserati 250S from the Laidlaw Competition Car Collection. It's an ex-Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall car, and the only 250S originally built with a 2.5-litre engine. It's a well-provenanced example, and fully justified its £2,128,000 sale price. Another big seller from the Laidlaw Collection was the 1965 Porsche 904/6 Carrera GTS, which sold for £1,232,000.

The international demand for fine Ferraris continues to generate impressive sales results. A particularly fine road specification 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 perfectly demonstrated the strength of the market by securing £1,646,400, a (yet another) world record price for the model at auction.

On the first day of the auction, the ‘Ultimate Mercedes-Benz Collection’ went under the hammer with no less than 74 cars on offer. The top-selling car from the collection was the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet B, which achieved £820,000, closely followed by a 1932 Mercedes-Benz 15/75 HP Mannheim 370 S Sport Roadster which made £770,000. A 1956 300SL Gullwing also sold well, securing £739,200, while the 1961 roadster for sold for £716,800, further reinforcing the market’s love of both the iconic 300 SL derivatives.

Max Giraldo, Managing Director, RM Europe said: 'We brought 134 fabulous cars to the market and over 90 percent found happy new owners. To have achieved sales in excess of £21 million is testament to the fact that the market remains very strong and that auctions continue to be the most effective way for collector cars to be bought and sold in a global market.'

Top 10 sales: RM Auctions London, 8-9 September

• 1957 Maserati 250S     £2,128,000
• 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4     £1,646,400
• 1965 Porsche 904/6 Carrera GTS     £1,232,000
• 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet B     £820,000
• 1964 Ferrari 250 GT/L ‘Lusso’     £817,600
• 1932 Mercedes-Benz 15/75 HP Mannheim 370 S     £770,000
• 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’     £739,200
• 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster     £716,800
• 007 Lotus Esprit ‘submarine car’     £616,000
• 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS Racing     £563,600